See How and Why Uganda’s only satellite has been removed from Space. According to Musk he seeks to make Starlink available in Eastern Africa specifically Tanzania so that people can have a higher access to information and build a better future.
The arrival of a game changer such as Starlink in the region could shake up Internet and mobile telecommunications. Starlink proposes to have high speed, low latency broadband Internet connections to underserved rural areas as well as offering competitive prices in urban centres.
Musk’s Starlink seeks to set up a low orbit satellites that would envelope the global with ultra- high speed beam broadband beams each capable of carrying 17GB of data per second. It also plans to offer mobile phone services from space using virtual satellite cell towers.
The Tanzanian government has not yet approved Starlink’s operating licence. Starlink needs to obtain spectrum rights from the Tanzanian government to operate its satellite network. They need to comply with Tanzania’s regulations on telecommunications and data protection. As a neigbouring country, Uganda is likely to benefit from the deal.
See How and Why Uganda’s only satellite has been removed from Space. Science and technology minister Dr Monica Musenero on Thursday, December 28, told the media that the satellite had been deorbited. The satellite had spent 13 months in orbit.
“The satellite could not do communications, satellite TV, Internet. It took pictures we could use it for geographical maps,” Musenero said.
In a related development, Elon Musk, the proprietor of X, formerly Twitter, listed as the world’s richest man, has expressed interest in setting up a satellite in East Africa based in Tanzania. The aim is to provide broad band and fast Internet in hard-to-reach areas.
Musenero recently told Parliament that Uganda’s satellite was suffering from funding shortages. She said shillings five billion was needed but had not been provided in this financial year.
She said the money was needed to set up equipment, build research laboratory, establish the command centre at Mpoma Sateliite Station in Mukono district and pilot the satellite data to benefit the economy.
She noted that Uganda had spent about shillings one billion on training the three space engineers. While Japan offered testing and launch of the satellite.
“We still need our own eyes in space. The satellite can identify weather conditions. We need other satellites,” Musenero said.
Uganda’s first satellite was successfully launched into orbit from the International Space Station (ISS) in November 2022. The PearlAfricaSat-1 spacecraft was rocketed to the ISS by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on November 7, 2022, alongside Zimbabwe’s ZimSat-1, with officials saying it will help Uganda monitor weather and disasters, map its mineral wealth and generate other crucial data.
During the launch of the satellite, Musenero said Uganda has previously had to rely on satellite data from other countries which is sometimes inaccurate and expensive.
See How and Why Uganda’s only satellite has been removed from Space. The satellite was developed by three Uganda engineers in Japan, with technical assistance from Japan’s Kyushu Institute of Technology.
Science, technology and innovation is a key driver of economic growth. It is a prime source of competition in the global marketplace with much of the global development being attributable to innovations, investment in science, technology and innovation.
According to the ministry of science, technology and innovation, for a long time a lot of investment has been made in supporting Uganda’s innovators and scientists but with few products produced in the market place. There are many prototypes lying idle in universities and research institutions due to lack of understanding on how to translate these ideas into products and enterprises
